Missouri exhausts federal unemployment supplement
Missouri has exhausted federal funding that enabled a $300 supplement to its weekly unemployment payments, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The supplement payments lasted for six weeks.
President Donald Trump made the funds available through an executive order, tapping a pool of Federal Emergency Management Agency money typically reserved for disaster relief. Trump issued the order when Congress failed to reach agreement over added unemployment benefits after an initial $600 coronavirus supplement ran out.
Missouri labor officials say they have paid $230 million in supplement payments, not including the final checks.
Experts warned the fund would run out in about five weeks, and some worry the loss of extra aid could stun the larger economy.